Defence of Palaven
by StitchWorkScowl
Summary: When her Turian Mate dies during the Reaper siege of Palaven, Astalia vows to make sure his death wasn't in vain. But a dangerous secret threatens both the lives of the team, and the mission. Mild horror, and lot of action. My first work, please review.
1. Chapter 1 Picking up where he left off

The shuttle rumbling around her, Astalia clutched at her sliver locket, which was given to her on this very planet; Palaven. It was all she had left of her partner, Kurreck. She traced her finger along the lines on his Turian face, a tear rolling down her check as she remembered her last moments with him. Little than a week had passed since she had seen his name listed MIA on the extranet, and she had requested to aid in the defence of Palaven. It was on the turning point, Krogan support was arriving on the lines, helping the Turians push back the Reaper threat, slowly. She lowered the small piece of jewellery, placing it gingerly into a pouch on her thigh, fitting in nicely alongside some food rations she'd brought along with her. It would be well needed, as much of the food on Palaven was unfriendly to pretty much all other species, bar the Quarians. Her eyes turned to her helmet, Deep black with Yellow detail, matching the rest of her armour. Her own face glumly eyed her back in the visor, Light Blue, complemented by her deep yellow facial markings. There were four other soldiers in the cramped shuttle, 2 Turians, and 2 Krogan. The Krogan, judging by their armour were Members of Clan Urdnot. They were both unsettled, no doubt excited for their own chance against this new foe. One was wearing a very aggressive looking helmet, but the second was not, although this did not make him look any less fearsome. Possessing several scars on his rough face and even a few dents on what little of his Crimson Carapace was visible. He had seen war many times before; that much was assured. The Turians had matching blue & black armour, and were sitting silent. With both helmets on, there wasn't much Astalia could read from their faces. Though fairly young for an Asari, Astalia had seen a lot of conflict. She had fled Thessia when barely into her twenties, and had been hiring herself out as a Mercenary ever since. She had been quick to enter the Matron stage, upon falling in love with Kurreck, whom had changed her life. She had been injured on a job; A raid against a band Eclipse mercenaries that were holing up on the Citadel. One of the Mercs with the team, a Batarian, had been paid off by the Eclipse, and alerted them once they were inside their base. It was a slaughter; most of her team had been killed instantly in crossfire, with no cover she had no choice to retreat. Bleeding from a bullet wound in her thigh she fled down the back alleyways, the Batarian loosed a Submission Net which pinned her to the wall. Astalia would never forget the feeling of the knife being pressed against her throat, as she was unable to move. Eyes closed, she waited for it to bite into her flesh, but it never came. Her saviour came in the form of a sharp crack; a bullet smashed through the Batarians head before he could do the deed. A lone C-Sec officer cautiously stepped towards her as she started to black out. Her last thought was wondering what kind of prison she would wake up in, as the young Turian approached her. She woke to find herself in his home, and over the course of the next few weeks her cared for her and nursed her back to health until, when she was healthy, she admitted she did not want to leave. Kurreck showed her love and security that had not been felt in the 200 years since leaving her home, and that in turn had changed her. No longer wanting to serve as a soldier, she took up a job in a local shop on the Zakera ward whilst Kurreck continued his work at C-Sec. Her desire to fight had all but left her, until she had received the news of Kurrecks fate in the war against the Reapers. Having been her first and only love, it hurt her more than any other injury. It ignited something, and she knew she could no longer live this life without him. Promptly selling up the Apartment and the store, she vowed to go to Palaven and continue where Kurreck had left off.

"I don't mean to be rude, but if I don't ask someone's gonna anyway." Astalia raised her head to look at the source of the noise, one of the Turians. "What's an Asari doing here? I mean, I thought all you guys were busy preparing your borders instead of joining in the fight."

"My reasons are my own." Astalia replied wearily "I just want to help, isn't that enough?" The Turian tilted his head.

"You can fight?" The Krogan without his helmet barked. She nodded in reply. "That's good enough for me, Blue. Name's Urdnot Thrakk, and this here's Urdnot Nar.

"I'm Gothis Tierius." The Turian who had talked to Astalia first added. The second Turian looked up.

"Chatti Vuryn."

"Astalia Liselle" Further conversation was halted by intervention of the Turian pilot.

"Suit up" His voice echoed through the cabin, "The place is covered in dust and smoke. You'll need the filters in your helmets." This caused Thrakk to chuckle quite loudly.

"Yeah, because I have the skin complexion of a Quarian too!" He said loudly. The light near the hatch started flashing amber, as the explosions, gunfire and screams from several different species became all the more apparent. Gothis stood up and took position closest to the door, pulling the Mattock Assault Rifle from his back he pulled up a map display on his Omni-Tool.

"We're set to push into quadrant 6D-C, objective is to clear out the Reapers, and reactivate the radio station at subsection 4A." He paused as everyone else got ready behind him, pulling out weapons and equipment. Thrakk had a rather nasty looking Claymore, with a fixed bayonet and armour piercing mod. Astalia fixed her helmet into place, and it stabilised her internal oxygen supply with a gentle hiss. She blinked as the HUD slowly flickered to life, highlighting the condition of her Barriers, and the ammo supply of her Phaseton & Phalanax.

"As soon as the hatch opens I will run out to the nearest cover, you will all provide cover, once I make it Nar will go next and so on. We need a full spread of covering fire. Once in a safe position, we will navigate our way through this housing estate toward the station. Once we're inside, we'll set up a perimeter whilst Chatti and I repair the comms. Then we just hole up and wait for reinforcements to arrive with our evac." The shuttle felt silent once more, as the occupants felt the decline slow, the flashing amber light switched to green. "Get ready!" Gothis hissed. A few seconds later the shuttle doors split open, and the full scream of the ensuing battle flooding inside.


	2. Chapter 2 Arrival

"Fire!" Gothis yelled, dropping down into the dust and rubble. Rolling to his feet, he sprinted towards a nearby wrecked hose, ducking as bullets hurtled towards him. The rest of the team were leaning out of the shuttle, returning fire to the source; a large cluster of Marauders and Cannibals in and around several buildings on the other side of the street, even picking off a few husks. As he reached the house, Gothis' voice sounded over the radio.

"In position!" He yelled over the gunfire, "Nar, you're up!" Astalia ducked to one side to let the Krogan pass. He dropped off the shuttle with a large crash as he hit the floor, and charged straight towards Gothis, his shield rippling as the bullets ricocheted of it. Without a word Chatti dropped down next, keeping low as he made his way.

"You're up next, Blue" Thrakk barked, "Don't worry; I got your back!" Shouldering her weapon, Astalia prepared to drop. An ear splitting roar pierced through the noise of the battle.

"BRUTE!" Gothis screamed through the radio, but before Astalia could do anything the shuttle was thrown through the air and Thrakk was mashed into her; tossing them both off the aircraft and crashing heavily on the concrete. The sound of the shuttle exploding nearly deafened the already disoriented Asari. Bits of the ship fluttered down all around her as she tried to crawl towards some cover. A movement to the left drew her attention; the huge lumbering Brute was making its way towards her, dragging itself with its crab-like claw, hatred in its mutilated Turian face. Astalia twisted, trying to go the other way and came face to face with Thrakks Claymore. She reached for it, with the dreadful pounding of the Brutes footsteps getting ever closer. As her hand reached it, a Krogan foot fell on it at the same time, preventing her from lifting it.

"I wouldn't use this one if I were you" Thrakk said. Proving his point, he picked up the shotgun, took a step towards the Brute and pulled the trigger. In the space of a half second, the shells were blown out of the shotgun with an even louder boom than had come off the ship, and they travelled the 8 meters between Thrakk and the huge Brute; mashing into and through its heavily armoured head and torso. Astalia felt the air ripple outward from the Claymore, and watched the enormous strength Thrakk exerted to keep his grip. The Brute, or what was left of it collapsed to the floor. "This thing would've broken both your arms at the least!" He chuckled. Reaching down, he pulled her to her feet. "Come on, Blue. We ain't safe yet!" As the bullets flitted all around them, another screech echoed over the battlefield. "Oh, what now!" Thrakk growled angrily. The screech sounded again, and Astalia could see Gothis in the building across the road, trying to figure out where it was coming from. As the noise faded a grave thought hit her and looked she looked straight up. Even with the visual aid her helmet provided, she still squinted to try to see through the dust. Suddenly, a huge shape burst through the cloud.

"It's a Harvester! Thrakk, Astalia get over here now!" Gothis voice crackled over the radio, but he was blotted out as the Harvester launched a barrage of projectiles straight down towards the two stragglers. Focusing her biotics, Astalia spread her arms and focused the incredible energy into a huge bubble-barrier. The missiles crashed into the barrier one after another, and Astalia felt every explosion with the pressure on her body increasing with each blow. It became an effort to remain standing, as the pressure was maintained by the gunfire of most, if not all of the Reaper forces in the area.

"Is It me, or is everybody focusing on us two right now!" Thrakk yelled over the gunfire wracking the barrier, as he returned fire through the one-way shield. With tremendous effort, Astalia started walking towards the rest of the team.

"It's almost like that thing just tagged us with a huge bullseye!" She hissed, through gritted teeth.

"Hell, let them come!" Thrakk shouted as a Husk ran inside the bubble. He swung the claymore into its side, sending it hurtling back out. "I'll take them all on!" The Harvester swung by for another pass, firing another missile barrage at them. One after another, every blow once again wrecked Astalia, forcing her to drop down on her knee. The flying terror sped off once more, trying to avoid the return shots being fired at it.

"I can't… I can't take another hit like that" Astalia gasped, breathing heavily.

"Well you'd better move, I think it's coming back!" Thrakk yelled urgently, firing into an oncoming crowd of Husks, killing every one of them. Astalia didn't have the energy left to answer. "Come on, Blue, move!" He grunted worriedly, throwing the last husk back out of the bubble.

"Gah!" Astalia groaned, as Thrakk scooped her off the floor with one huge arm, half carrying her, while blasting anything that came nearby. The telltale screeches that the Harvester was on its last run sounded.

"Grab her, we've got you covered!" She heard Gothis yell, somewhere within ear range once again. Placing his weapon on his back, Thrakk lifted Astalia into his arms and started sprinting. He didn't even stop or go around any Husks or Cannibals in his way, he just charged straight through them like a juggernaut, shouldering them out of the way even with bullets and rubble glancing off his shields and armour. Thrakk finally came to a stop, and lowered the exhausted Asari well behind cover.

"It's okay Blue, you can drop it now." He said gently. She responded with a low groan and relaxed, her arms dropping to the floor as the pulsating purple biotic energy faded back down into her, making the bubble dissipate. Chatti backed up from the position in the wall from where He and Gothis were holding off, although there was no sign of Nar.

"Is she injured?" He asked quickly

"No, just tired. She took a lot beating out there." Thrakk replied, as Astalia twitched in his arms, trying to sit up.

"When will you be able to walk?" Chatti pressed.

"Just give me a few minutes and I'll be fine." She said weakly.

"We may not have that long!" Gothis yelled, "Chatti, Thrakk, get over here; they're trying to make a push. Chatti quickly moved over, as did Thrakk, though not before leaning Astalia against a wall.

"Sit tight, I'll be right back." After a few seconds of battle, Nar stomped through a hole towards Astalias left, giving her a little shock.

"What does it look like?" Gothis asked the returning Krogan.

"I cleared out the whole building; it's collapsed into the next one over which leads back into the housing estate in 4B!" He replied.

"That's excellent, right where we wanna be, and that building will make for a decent fall-back point for the minute. Chatti, set the demolition charges!" The other Turian nodded, and backed off pulling two small packages each about half the size of his fist out from his belt. Astalia had finally gathered enough strength to stagger to her feet, and slowly making her way towards Gothis.

"Orders!" She yelled, still quite weak.

"Get back in that building, and take a defensive position! When we come though, I want you to take down anything that might decide to follow us!" She nodded in reply and turned to leave. "Hey kid. That was a hell of a job out there!" Hobbling towards the back of the wrecked building, Astalia tiredly pushed a dusty table on its side, and leant against it with her Phaseton aimed at the huge crevice in the wall, from which she could still she the rest of the team firing, whilst Chatti planted the charges. A few more seconds and he had finished, upon informing Gothis they started backing through the hole still firing, Turians first, then the destructive Krogan covering the rear. With more of her strength returning every second, Astalia started firing in bursts of deadly accuracy, taking down several Husks and Cannibals once the others were clear.

"Alright, hit it" Gothis yelled to Chatti, whom nodded back. Another terrifying shriek filled the air, however this one was unlike any of the other noises they had heard on the battlefield that day, and it had a clear effect on the whole team as everyone looked towards the outside of the building, even interrupting Chatti from pressing the button. Astalia felt the familiar crackle of biotics as the shriek wailed once more, followed by a dull pulsating noise, that sounding vaguely like scraping. An isolated lifeless flash crackled a few feet away from the hole, accompanied by a new figure. A huge, grey, almost skeletal nightmarish creature, whose scalp remotely resembled an Asari with sharp, tipped fingers and a malicious toothy scowl, stood hunched just outside, its black eyes scanning the room, It was surrounded by what looked like a volatile purple barrier. It took one hugely pained step, upon which caused Gothis to regain his senses, roaring at Chatti to blast the charges. The Turian thumbed the trigger, setting the explosives off in the monstrous creatures face with a huge flame, bringing down the wall.


End file.
